Over the weekend, pro player Phil Laak (age 37) eclipsed the existing world record for the longest ever poker game played in one consecutive session. He was planning to play for 90 hours straight, which would have ended at 6am local time (in Las Vegas) but he cut the session short at only 79 hours!
Laak said in an interview, “There’ve been a few times where I realized if I didn’t stand up I wouldn’t be able to keep going.”
It will be some time before the Guiness authorities verify the record by checking documents and video footage, but it looks likely that he will be in next year’s Guiness Book of World Records. The four day event was streamed over the Internet to thousands of fans, and that footage will be used to help verify the claim.
The existing record is held by Larry Olmsted who played at Foxwoods for just over 72 hours in 2025, although an unofficial (according to Guiness) record of 78 hours and 45 minutes is held by Paul Zimbler.
Laak began his epic game in the Bellagio last Wednesday and was allowed five minutes of break time for each hour, and saved up his break time to allow for showers, yoga and stretching to help keep himself fresh. He hired a nutritionist to help him both during the event, and in his training which he started in January.
Laak is a WPT title holder, with live tournament poker winnings to date of around $2 million.
